If you see a whole thing - it seems that it's always beautiful. Planets, lives... But up close a world's all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life's a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern. - Ursula K. LeGuin

Sunday, March 13, 2011

What I Did On My Spring Break Or The Spring Break That Wasn't

Today is the last day of my spring break.  I am not happy about this.  It is made worse by today being Daylight Savings and I've lost an hour.  Normally I either spend spring break on vacation (which means I come back rested but behind in my work) or I spend it working (which means I'm caught up--if not ahead--but tired).  This year I opted for the latter.  Unfortunately, in spite of working every single day (including both weekends) I am not caught up.  I may, in fact, be more behind than before.

It seems no one took spring break off and instead they all decided to generate work (and aggravation) that they sent to me throughout the break.  There were meetings, there were phone calls, there were emergency requests, there were large documents and they were all directed my way.  I am not happy.  I am in fact done.  Done with this semester, done with this academic year, done with drama, done with other people's agendas and petty squabbles.  It has not been pretty and it is quite likely to get uglier yet.  Luckily I did spend considerable time at the gym and took multiple tai chi and yoga classes. Therefore I am steadfast in my resolve to stay out of the fray, live in the moment, and do only what can be done.

b is traveling most weekends this spring, leaving me to my own devices.  Friday I drove down to see Angel.  His spring break was just starting and he had plans to go backpacking with friends.  I brought down a backpack, sleeping bag, and water bottles.  I also had a ton of kitchen items from friends that I thought he might want.  We had lunch and then took a walk along a greenway that was just completed behind his house.  He uses it frequently as a running path but that day we just walked it.  I love that Angel loves to walk.  It is his preferred method of transportation, as it is mine, and some of our best talks happen when we walk together.  Friday was no exception.


Today was the most beautiful day of the week.  Unfortunately I forgot about Daylight Savings Time and slept too late to make it to my yoga class.  Instead I quickly settled into a large pot of coffee and grading.  As the day wore on I didn't want to lose it completely and decided to take a bike ride.

This was my first bike ride of the season and from my new house.  I found an easy path to the nearest park.  There are plenty of biking paths in the park and I had a wonderful time.  There was a reenactment of the Revolutionary War going on throughout the park.  Between that and the beautiful day, it was quite crowded.  I'm not a big war buff or reenactment fan, so I didn't stop to take pictures.  However on the way back I passed an open cemetery.  I am a big fan of cemeteries, so I wandered around and took a few photos.  



Now it is back to grading and preparing for the week I have ahead of me.  

2 comments:

Drax said...

Beautiful. Hang in there.

Julie said...

I hope your week is going well. The photos are amazing!